Chapter 334: Childbirth
Chapter 334: Chapter 334: Childbirth
"I was just walking over there and heard some shouting coming from their yard. I couldn’t hear it clearly, but I got the gist of it," Zhu Ziqiang didn’t hide, "Do you want to go and take a look?"
"Is it okay for me to visit now?" Tian Cuifen asked.
"What’s the harm in that? When they first arrived in the village, didn’t you help them for a while?
Plus, as village chief, it’s not appropriate for me to step in when they’re having a baby, but you women get along better.
After all, they’re new here and don’t know a lot of things. You can stay there and see if there’s anything you can help with."
"No, I mean, old man, why are you so eager?
Aside from initially hiring people from the village, later on, with so many people they brought, they’ve been managing on their own," Tian Cuifen couldn’t understand. Other families have had children too, yet they weren’t as keen to help.
"Well, Gu Kaiyuan and his family might be settling here long-term, and they’ve purchased so many mountains and lands, they have strong family assets.
We’ll inevitably have to interact with them in the future, and if you can get on good terms, perhaps after spring, they might hire people again, and then it’ll be easier for me to approach them."
Zhu Ziqiang had his considerations. Although he had gained some favor by being a witness before, how much was that really worth?
This was a rare opportunity to build a good relationship, yet his wife was still hesitating here.
"You have a point," Tian Cuifen thought of the recent income at home, and even she, along with her daughter-in-law, had a share of the wages. She couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
Quickly washing her hands and changing into a clean set of clothes, she hurriedly walked towards the end of the village.
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Bai Suihe endured the pain, walking back and forth in the room with the support of two maids.
Nanny Pang was on the side preparing all the delivery tools, directing the midwife efficiently.
The midwife was carefully selected and had stayed here for a while, knowing that Nanny Pang had medical skills. She happily assisted on the side.
This was the most worry-free birthing case she had ever seen; calm from the onset of labor pains.
She tidied herself up, ate, and drank to her fill, and now was moving around according to the pattern of her contractions.
"The lady is really steady," the midwife couldn’t help but praise, "If the women I’ve delivered were this composed, they’d suffer a lot less."
Those who shouted and screamed from the start often exhausted themselves by the time of actual delivery.
Unfortunately, even though she had told them before, many didn’t understand why and felt that childbirth required yelling to make it impactful.
Wouldn’t it be better to focus all the energy in one place?
She had experienced the pain of childbirth herself and couldn’t help but cry out, but she wouldn’t exaggerate like some, starting to shout at the first onset.
Nanny Pang looked at Bai Suihe with a face full of affection. Raised by the lady with tender love, this kind of temperament was rare.
What they didn’t know was that Bai Suihe was panicking inside. Being a mother suddenly was a first-time experience for her.
If it wasn’t for the baby reassuring her not to be nervous and that it wouldn’t let her suffer too much, her legs would have already turned weak.
Giving birth in ancient times was a life-threatening ordeal, even though Nanny Pang and the midwife were by her side all the time, she still felt uneasy.
"Mommy, I’ve adjusted my position," the baby’s excited voice echoed in her mind, "I’ll be out soon to see you."
Upon hearing this, Bai Suihe quickly said, "Nanny, I think it’s time."
Nanny Pang finished tidying up the things in her hands, immediately helped her back to the bed, placed a hand on her pulse, and quickly told the midwife, "The baby’s coming out."
Because the two maids were pregnant, Nanny Pang had sent them out long ago to avoid scaring them.
However, Dongmei and the others didn’t leave. Instead, they waited outside the door with a few other women.
Now, hearing it was time, they hurried to instruct the women nearby to fetch hot water from the kitchen.
They also had them warm up the kang, so the mistress wouldn’t get cold.
"You two young ladies should go back to your room and rest; it’s too cold out here," Mrs. Wu Zhang tried to shield them from the wind, but how much could she block the biting cold wind?
"Yes, Sister Wu is right," Mrs. Song Liu also advised, "You can’t catch a cold now; we’ve got things here covered, and Xiao Cui and PanDi have served the young lady well for a long time."
Ever since Dongmei had kept the young maids from their two families by her side, they knew it was the madam’s intention to train new senior maids.
This was an incredible opportunity; back in the distant Zhuang Family, they hadn’t even seen the master’s face.
Now, with such a fortune, serving the mistress promises a bright future like Dongmei and her peers.
Wu Xiaocui and Song PanDi quickly nodded, "Rest assured, sisters, we will take good care of the mistress. If there’s anything we don’t understand, we’ll come to you.
It’s too cold outside; you should go back to rest. If you catch a cold, the madam will surely blame us."
Dongmei and Chunxiang knew they couldn’t help much here, but neither of them left. Instead, they stayed in the adjacent room, where they felt closest to the mistress, giving them peace of mind.
Seeing they didn’t stay out in the cold, the others stopped insisting.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door, and Li Dazhuang opened it to find the lady of the village chief, "What’s going on?"
"We heard some noise from over here; is Madam Gu giving birth?" Tian Xiaocui asked nervously with her two daughters-in-law, "We heard the commotion and came to check if there was anything we could help with?"
Li Dazhuang didn’t know the current situation inside either, and it wasn’t good to offend the village chief in Tian Village, so he said, "Our mistress is about to give birth, but I’m not sure about needing help. Why don’t you wait a bit, and I’ll go in and ask for you?"
Tian Cuifen hurriedly nodded, "That would be great."
Her two daughters-in-law followed silently behind her. The last time they came to work, there weren’t so many formalities. Madam Gu indeed hailed from a grand family, judging by the way even the servants here were brought from her maiden family.
Looking around at such a large courtyard, there was an unavoidable sense of envy. Would they ever have the chance to stay a night in such a house in their lifetime?
Li Dazhuang soon returned with his wife, Mrs. Li Huang, "Madam Village Chief, thank you for making the trip, please come inside."
Nanny Pang was with the mistress inside, so outside matters were left to a few women to manage.
Having spent time in the farm estate before, they knew not to clash with the local villagers. Since the villagers had come in good spirit, they naturally couldn’t turn them away.
As they welcomed them into the middle courtyard, the wife and her two daughters-in-law noticed the abundance of lady’s maids there.
They couldn’t help but marvel, rich people truly led extravagant lives. With only two masters, this many people serving them must have cost a fortune in Silver.